How to Ripen Mangoes

Mango is a very delicious and healthy fruit. A mango can be ripen without using any chemicals once it is picked from the tree. Actually, ripening a mango at home is quite simple. A mango can take from 2 to 7 days to ripen depending on its present ripeness and the environment where it is stored.

Given below is a complete mango ripening guide on natural methods on how to ripen mangoes quickly after picking or buying.

The chemical Calcium carbide is used to artificially ripen mangoes by some fruit merchants which can cause health problems. You can ripen mangoes at home if you have unripe mangoes by safe natural methods given below.
Calcium carbide is the chemical widely used for artificially ripening fruits including mangoes. The calcium carbide is carcinogenic substance containing arsenic and phosphorus, its use is prohibited in ripening of fruits in many countries. Consumption of calcium carbide ripened mangoes and other fruits affect the neurological system, cause headache, dizziness, sleepiness, mental confusion, memory loss, and many other conditions.

When to Pick Mangoes from the Tree?

If you have a mango tree, then the natural question is when you should pick the fruits from the tree, whether you pluck them when they are still unripe or you should wait for them to ripen on the tree? So when do I pick them?

If left on tree, mangoes will ripen and produce the sweetest fruits ever. But is it worth? Remember that birds love ripe mangoes as we do, so they will not leave a single fruit. You can save your mango crop from birds if you cover and hide them. If you cover the mangoes by paper bags, then they will ripen faster on tree than uncovered mangoes, but then how will you consume, say 40 ripe mangoes altogether?

Unripe Mangoes

So it is better to pick mangoes from the tree when they are neither totally unripe nor fully ripe. You should only pick or buy mature and firm fruits.

Never pick a totally unripe mango if you want to eat it.

Pick only those fruits which has started to change their color.

How to know if the mango is ripe?

Some people think that if some portions of the mango appears red, then it is ripe. No, the red color is not an indicator of ripeness, some mango varieties have partly red color. .

Press the mango gently. If it feels very firm - rock hard, it is unripe - wait for some days. If it is slightly soft, it has started to ripen, you can pick it.

Smell the stem end of the mango. If it has a fruity odor, it is ripe. The ripe mangoes will spread sweet fragrant smell in the whole room.

Methods To Ripen Mangoes

Whether you have plucked mangoes from your tree or you bought them from market and they are unripe, you will want them to ripen fast for eating. You may use the following natural methods for ripening mangoes quickly at home:

Keep unripe mangoes at room temperature on your kitchen table, they will continue to ripen, becoming softer over several days. This is a slow process of ripening, but they will ripen of their own.

Do not put unripe mangoes or any other fruits in a fridge as it will slow down the natural process of fruit ripening.

What to do to speed up ripening of mangoes?

Semi-Ripe Mangoes

If you want to ripen your mangoes quickly, then do the following:

It is a fact that ethylene gas contributes to fruit ripening. Therefore, place unripe mangoes in a paper bag with fruits that emit a high concentration of ethylene gas such as apples, bananas, pears, passion fruit and avocados at a warmer place like kitchen. So putting an apple or banana will increase the amount of ethylene gas in the bag. This is the best way to ripen a mango quickly.

Another way to ripen a mango is to put them in a ventilated wooden or cardboard box with lots of hay. That is how mango boxes are sold in India.

Another old method is to bury the mangoes in a bin of wheat or uncooked rice. It is a quick, fast and easy way to save a few days off the ripening time. In India and many Asian countries, this is most common method of ripening fruits.

Video on how to ripen mangoes faster

Mangoes Ripening on Tree

How To Ripen a Mango in Microwave

Can you ripen a mango in a microwave?
Although the mangoes tastes very good if raw mangoes are ripen slowly by the above natural methods, people claim that you can ripen them in a microwave almost immediately. The mango ripen in a microwave will not taste very good. Following are the suggested steps on how to ripen a mango in microwave:

Using a knife, poke the mango in 4-5 places to help escape the steam.

Wrap the mango in a kitchen towel and place it in the microwave for 10 seconds.

Take out and press it with fingers to check its ripeness. If the mango has become soft, then it is ripening. Make a small cut and see if it is ripe enough. If not, microwave it for another 5-10 seconds to achieve desired softness.

How To Ripen Mangoes after Cutting

Sometimes it happens that you cut a mango thinking that it is ripe, after cut you find that it is still unripe. If you leave this cut mango as it is, it will not ripen and rot in quickly. To speed up the ripening process of a cut mango as quickly as possible do the following: Cover the cut section mango with glads-wrap and place it in a paper bag with a banana. The cut mango will ripen in a few days.

How To Store Mangoes

Store unripe mangoes at room temperature.

Once ripe, mangoes should be put in the refrigerator to slow down the ripening process. Whole, ripe mangoes may be stored for up to 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Never refrigerate mangoes before they are ripe.

4
comments

Don't happen to have a paper bag? Do you have a small cardboard box? Stick your mango in there with a banana or apple. It will be ripe in a couple of days. Just letting a mango sit on the table or in the kitchen window does not work well for me. I have to "force" ripen them. Then they are almost as good as ripe from the tree, well, not quite. The best mangoes that I have had were tree-ripened mangoes when I was in Columbia. The hotel fed birds fruit just like they fed me, but the birds were much more beautiful. Reply

Thanks for the information. Mangoes sitting on the table will take a long time to ripen, however, putting other fruits like bananas or apples near them will quicken the ripening process. You are correct, I also find the best mangoes which ripen on the tree. I cover the mangoes on the tree with bags to protect them from the birds. Reply

Ripen? In a microwave...? I think that's called cooking. Coming doesn't actually"ripen" anything. Cooking in general arrests the growth of organic matter by irradiation of fast moving particles resulting in an increase in surface temperature and a gradual absorbing of surface hear into the substrate of the "ripening" substance, I guess.